Stephen Bennett
Pencil power
Ihave always been asked how I can draw the way I do and my initial response is by endless practicing. You may only ever see my finest artworks, but you will never see the ones that were started, but were put aside due to not meeting the standard I want to achieve. This, I consider to be a part of the development in becoming refined as an artist and with how I approach each drawing. For me, to understand what types of pencils work best for various outcomes is one of the most important aspects in creating an artwork. For instance, what to use for colour and what brands work well together for layering purposes, to help build depth, or what pencils are good for the finer details, are important considerations. Personally, I like to use Prismacolor and Faber Castell Polychromos pencils for my major component of the drawing, and I prefer to use Faber Castell Pitt Pastels for mostly background work, as its quite easy to cover large areas quickly. Faber Castell Polychromos are an oil-based cored pencil with a vast colour range and an extremely break-resistant lead, which is great for the finest of details. Their smoothness and resistance to smudging also makes them a pleasure to use.
Prismacolor also have a vast colour range and are made from brilliant lightresistant pigments. Due to their softer waxed based core, which unfortunately is easily breakable, they are smooth with rich coverage and colour saturation. They are perfect for blending, especially using a colourless blender. I tend to use both brands together as I find using the Prismacolor’s over the Fabers can help emphasize highlights when required; whether it’s for skin, fur or feathers they can quite simply define your subject’s finest features. Note, however, that Fabers tend not to work as well over the Prismacolors! Both brands blend well together even when using the colourless blender,
though due to the waxed core of the Prismacolor’s, it can be worked to a point where they form a hard waxed surface and therefore become frustratingly unworkable. When marking out a drawing and to get the accuracy of the subject, I like to grid the layout of the drawing with a white polychrome, as it is easily erasable and it will not show through the drawing like a lead pencil does. Starting to add colour, I like to gradually start with the lightest colours to define the basic features of the subject and then slowly start to add the darker tones to build depth.